My plans for Columbia are ambitious and controversial. Many people will disagree with them and I welcome it, that's what the comments field is for. I think Columbia has always been something special and I'm proud to call it my hometown. I want it to stay just as special in the future as it was in the past and that involves BIG decisions, BIG change, BIG investment, and BIG Redvelopment

Friday, February 8, 2013

It was thought that there was no real room along Old Stockbridge Drive.
It appeared to be built out when driving down the road that parallels
Mayfield Avenue and connects Route 108 to Meadowridge Road. Hoever, 10
years ago that changed when Old Stockbridge Drive, which contains
several Condo and Town Home Developments built in the mid to late 1980s
and through the early 1990s was to be the site of the badly needed new
Northeastern Elementary School. At the time, there was an outcry due to
the fact that the School is literally a stone's throw away from Waterloo
and how could both Schools maintain populations of their own etc. Well
that wasn't really a problem as both Schools are bursting at the seams
as they await the delivery of ES#41 set to open Next School Year. When
looking at how far back Bellows Spring Elementary is set from Old
Stockbridge Drive I couldn't help but notice how much additional land is
available for development. Why not build the Neighborhood of Bellows
Spring?

When turning into the School's driveway from Old
Stockbridge, one feels as if they're traveling in time, a time when
Eastern Howard County wasn't being built out by suburban style and new
urban subdivisions. Be that as it may Bellows Spring still generates a
good number of Walkers as Old Stockbridge itself, like I stated before
contains several Condo and Town Home developments that yield large
numbers of School age Children. One thing that caught my eye is that Old
Stockbridge contains no Single Family Detached Housing. Perhaps if the
land around Bellows Spring were developed that could be a type of
housing used.

Some of the land surrounding Bellows Spring backs up
to Route 100, that land in 2003 was zoned POR or Planned Office
Research. Given that only 3 million of the planned 14 million square
feet of Office Space will be used in Howard and Anne Arundel County,
this land is set to be rezoned A-15 which is suited for Apartments and
Condos. This particular piece of the Bellows Spring land is accessible
via Meadowridge Road opposite Wesley Lane. I happen to agree with the
County's and Land Owner's desire to use this for residential uses. If we
were to build a Neighborhood of this caliber, it would need a Main Road
perhaps a Boulevard?

This is where my idea for Bellows Spring Boulevard
comes into play, a good portion of it already exists as the drive way
for Bellows Spring Elementary. It would be widened and given a
signalized intersection with Old Stockbridge Drive. It would then have a
turn off for the Elementary School and continue on where the Schools's
Ball Fields currently are. I've never liked how the Ball Fields are
positioned in relation to the School, Students have to cross the parking
lot to access them. As part of the new development plan, I would have
them relocated next to the black top and School Gyms. Bellows Spring
Boulevard would then continue past the School and then make a sharp
right turn before ending at Meadowridge Road opposite Wesley Lane.

Now what types of housing should flank this new
Bellows Spring Boulveard? Well, I'd like it to respect that existing
housing stock by blending like types with one another while at the same
time introducing detached Single Family Homes. So lets start at Old
Stockbridge. Given that both side streets on either side of the School's
driveway which is what would become Bellows Spring Boulevard have Town
Homes, I would put Town Homes in the beginning section of Bellows Spring
Boulevard. When getting closer to the School, I would introduce Single
Family Homes. I would also build a street in between Stockbridge
Overlook Court and Maryland School for the Hearing Impaired. These would
be duplexes not unlike those found in Stockbridge Overlook. Whether
this road connects to Bellows Spring Boulevard or not is a decision I
have yet to make. Past the School, and onto the land near Route 100 and
Meadowridge Road. One thing I forgot to mention is that only PART of
this land will be rezoned from POR to A-15. The A-15 or Apartment zoned
land will be further back from Meadowridge Road and the remaining POR
land is closer. I would build mixed income Apartments and Condos on the
A-15 zoned land and build small scale convenience based Retail with
upper floor Offices on that. It would face Meadowridge Road opposite
Wesley Lane.

Well that concludes my proposal for the Neighborhood of Bellows Spring. I hope one day it can become a reality.